THREE men involved in a large-scale drugs factory run from the home of one of them were yesterday locked up for a combined 20 years and six months.

The friends were arrested after police found more than £20,000 worth of cocaine and a pressing machine at a house in Newbury Avenue, Billingham.

Householder Andrew Halliday was jailed for three-and-a-half while his friends Jason Ridgeway got eight years and Glen Wilkinson received nine years.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the discovery was made after 41-year-old Halliday was stopped for speeding on the A19 and cannabis was found in his car.

The cocaine, cutting agents, blenders, mixing bowls and the press were found in an under-stairs cupboard at his home, said prosecutor Richard Bennett.

Ridgeway, 31, and Wilkinson, 33, were convicted of conspiring to supply Class A drugs after a trial last month. Halliday, 41, admitted the charge.

Judge George Moorhouse told the trio, who are all from the Stockton area: “You have seen the effect drugs have on people and how it can ruin their lives.”

Unemployed father-of-three Halliday was described by his barrister, Jim Withyman, as “a mug, a dupe and a fool” who was used by others in the gang.

“The people higher up the chain didn't wish to use their own properties,” Mr Withyman told Judge Moorhouse. “That's why he was taken on board.

“When they arrived that day to mix the cocaine, he was given money and the first thing he did was jump in his car and drive to Peterlee to get cannabis.”

Paul Abrahams, for former soldier Ridgeway, of Roseneath Avenue, Stockton, said he was not anywhere near the top of the chain in the conspiracy.

“He was hands-on,” said the barrister. “Top drug-dealers do not get hands-on. He is not some sort of Machiavellian character controlling others.”

Victoria Sheppard-Jones, for dad-of-one Wilkinson, of Calf Fallow Lane, Norton, said he had turned around his life in the time since his arrest.

She said he sunk into depression following a crash which killed a girl two years ago, but has since worked as a counsellor for a support group.

Detective Constable Tony Snow, of Cleveland Police's drugs unit in Stockton, said after the case: “Drug use blights communities and causes misery.

“We are determined to remove dealers and those involved in drug activity from the streets. We will work to put those involved before the courts.”